The Response

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you that have responded to our request and need for a car!  I don't know who has specifically given or how much, but I have heard that the response has been tremendous!  God has truly humbled us through this experience so far!  We had one particular family that donated and also shared with us an excerpt from a book.  I wanted to share it with you because it touched my heart so deeply.  It is from a book called Radical:

         "In direct contradiction to the American dream, God actually delights in exalting our inability.  He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him.  In the process he powerfully demonstrates his ability to provide everything his people need in ways they never could have mustered up or imagined.  And in the end, he makes much of his own name."

This quote puts it perfectly.  We never could have mustered up or imagined how God would provide a car for us, but he is doing it in front of our very eyes!!  God gets the glory through each of your generous donations.  I don't know how much money we have raised so far, but I know that God will provide each dollar that we need.  His Church (with a capital "C") is being raised up!  Hallelujah!

Calling on the Church with a capital "C"

          Since moving to India I have joined a womens Bible study called BSF (or Bible Study Fellowship).  They have this Bible study all over the world including the US too.  I know they even have one in Sioux Falls.  If any of you have ever attended BSF for any amount of time you know that a lot of time each week is spent doing your "homework".  They give you notes and scriptures to study each week.   Then you get together with a small group to discuss your answers (where you will be held accountable to your "homework").  Then you have a lecture from one of the leaders also going through the same material.  This year BSF is studying the book of Matthew.  It has been extremely challenging yet so rewarding.  I have also had the pleasure of meeting a few friends through our meetings.

        Today I was praying and going through my notes and God prompted me to share a few things from the notes with you that apply to this transition that we are going through here in India.  These quotes are based out of Matthew 16: 24--Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."  So what does this verse mean for us today?  The notes say "For Jesus' people today it is to regard your desires, thoughts, feelings plans, rights---your entire former way of life and thinking---as dead.  In its place, you choose God's thoughts, God's will, God's emotions, God's power, God's purposes to be at the very center of your life."

       That is my truly is my prayer today!.  I feel like in moving here I have left a lot of comforts from home behind.  I have quit my job, sold my house and car, and moved across the world; simply to follow the will of God.  At times as I sit here now I wonder, why in the world did we do this?  God what is your purpose in having me here?  God is slowly, slowly revealing his purpose to me, but at times it is still very unclear.  Then I read this verse in Matthew 16 and I understand how I need to be praying.  This is not about ME!  It is about taking up my cross and following him.  So God I pray that you will help me to choose your thoughts, your will, your power, and your purposes.  Make them the center of my life today!!  I hope that you also will make this your prayer today along with me!

      A few weeks ago I mentioned a few prayer requests.  God has been faithful in answering them.  We have found a church to attend on Sundays, we are slowly building a community of friends, I have found a Dr. and a hospital to have the baby, and the chiropractic clinic continues to get busier and busier each week.  The one thing that has yet to be answered is our prayer request for a car.  This is where I humbly need to call on the Church with a capital "C" (that means all of you that believe in Jesus Christ).  We simply do not have the money to buy a car here in India.  One of our cars back in the US did not sell like we had hoped.  Our money we had saved up is dwindling as we are living on about $400/month budget.  I am asking you all to prayerfully consider donating your money to our car fund.  The car would help Kris get to and from work more easily and help us go on our daily errands (like getting groceries for example).   We currently rely on other friends to get us to these places.  Molly and I get somewhat confined here in the apartment...but we are starting to get used to it.  We do a lot of walking too.  My prayer is that we would have enough money raised before the baby comes, so we can get to the hospital in time without having to call for a ride.  I did not want to ask others for this, but God told me to put away my pride and make our need known.  If you belong to a church or are a leader within your church, please present this request to your church.  Or if you as an individual or family desire to give, please prayerfully consider.  If you would like to give to our cause please email me (beckydejong@hotmail.com) or message me on facebook and I will let you know how do so.

      Thank you for all of your support and prayers so far.  We have been here almost 7 weeks and God is totally changing our lives and our hearts.  Praise God!!  

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...well kind of!  We are trying as much as we can to get in the Christmas spirit around here.  We are really struggling though because of the 80 degree temps and palm trees.  Some how that combined with  not being around family and friends make it quite different this year!  But we knew that it would be very different this year.  Here are some pictures of us trying to get into the Christmas spirit!

Molly and I cut out snow flakes while listening to Christmas music.  We decided to hang them on her bedroom door.  For all of those that have been asking, I also decided to add a nice picture of the belly bump.  This was taken at 30 weeks pregnant!!  Only 10 weeks to go!!!

We also attempted to make some Christmas goodies.  Kris' favorite Christmas treat is peanut butter star cookies.  We don't have Hersheys Kisses at our local market so we bought a bar of chocolate instead and used that for the middle.

Kris even helped with the baking.  He also made sure we had a steady supply of Christmas music in the background!!

Here is how they turned out!!  Mom thought they looked like little turds in the middle, but they tasted good anyways :) Oh and yes, we did use the toaster oven again for all the baking.  It took a while cause I could only fit a few cookies in the oven at a time.  

We ended our night by watching the movie Elf with hot chocolate and popcorn.  Now we are officially in the Christmas Spirit!!

One afternoon while doing some shopping we came across some Christmas trees.  We wanted to buy one so badly, but we knew it would never fit in the small rickshaw that we had to take home. 

This is Molly and our neighbor Maureen.  Her and her husband took us to a wonderful Christmas Carol service at one of the local catholic churches.  After the service they had a big meal along with Santa, gifts, and more caroling.  Maureen has gladly taken on the role of being Molly's adopted scottish grandma.  (She is from Scotland and her husband is Indian).  Molly and Maureen are watching Santa as  he passes by.

Here is Santa!!  Molly thought it was so cool that Santa had brown skin and wore sunglasses, unlike the other Santas she has seen on TV

Each of the children received a gift from Santa.  Here is Molly opening up her Christmas gift.

After the service I had to snap a pic of Molly in front of the Christmas tree.  We don't see too many of them around here, so I had to take advantage of the opportunity!

Although this Christmas is turning out to be much different than what we are used to, I am learning a lot about what this celebration is all about.  We have had much more time this year to simply reflect on the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.  We have not been bogged down with Christmas shopping, putting up decorations, baking tons of Christmas goodies, and planning parties.  While all of those things are so much fun (and I do miss them), they are not the reason we celebrate.  God chose to send his son Jesus down to earth as a baby, both fully God and fully human.  That reality is so humbling!  I truly have had more time to give thanks to Jesus for choosing to do this for us.   

So, I want to finish by saying Merry Christmas from the Isaksons!  You all are in our thoughts and prayers.  We miss you and love you!  We are praying that the Lord would also be near you amidst all the business the holidays can bring.  Take time to reflect on his birth and give him thanks!

ACCEPT

Last week Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to a place called ACCEPT.  This is a facility that cares for people that are affected or infected with AIDS/HIV.   They accept all types of patients and also take in children who have been orphaned or rejected due to AIDS/HIV.  ACCEPT is an acronym for AIDS Counseling Care Education Prevention and Training.  This acronym describes their mission and focus.  Some patients come in and are nearly dying and some come because they have been abandoned by their families and thus are seeking proper treatment for their disease.  Either way they nurse them back to health with the proper care and medications, or they help them die peacefully.  Each patient is presented with the gospel message and given opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before they die. 

 The orphaned children are given a home within the facility, given food to eat, educated, and also brought up to know the Lord.  Kris will only be working with the children at this point.  He will be going there every other Wednesday to give them adjustments.  The adjustments in conjunction with the proper medications greatly help improve their immune system function, thus allowing them to stay well.  Plus we all know how active kids are...they are not without the traditional aches and pains that go along with being active.  

Below are a few pictures from the afternoon:

There are about 7 girls and about 12 boys I believe.  Each one is HIV positive.  Most of the children looked fairly healthy, but also looked small for their age.  They were all quite lively and excited to be adjusted.  Kris is not the first chiropractor to help them, so they were all pretty familiar with the treatments.  Molly and I were able to get to know a few of them, but mostly we just watched.   My hope is that they will get more comfortable being around us the more we go.  Molly and I want to bring some activities next time just to keep them entertained while they are waiting for their adjustments.  Kris is purely volunteering when adjusting these kids.  He does not receive any compensation, however, I do believe that this experience was one of the most rewarding since being in India. 

I was able to take away so much from this experience, even after just going there one time.  These children are abandoned at birth, have HIV, live in below average living conditions, are rejected by society, and have a future that looks somewhat grim.  They have every right to be mad at life, and maybe sometimes they are.  But, it makes me think "WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT?"  These kids have showed me that I live a charmed and rich life.  I have health, family, food to eat, a home to live in, and so much more!  I also am blessed to have people that care about me and have invested their time because they want to have a relationship with me.  Like I said before, these kids know Jesus Christ, and that is a treasure they have that is worth mentioning.  He can be everything that they need and more.  

So that is my prayer!  I pray that Jesus would be everything that they need.  I pray also that our family would be able to show them love.  I have asked God to show me how love them like He does; how I can tangibly be the hands and feet of Jesus.  I don't really know what that looks like yet, but he is revealing it to me.  Kris will continue to adjust each kid, but I hope that Molly and I can also show them a love that only comes from God alone.  Please pray for this ministry and for us too as we learn how to best love and care for them.  God is doing awesome things through this ministry.  Feel free to check out their website (acceptindia.org).  They run on prayers, volunteer support, and volunteer giving.  

American Thanksgiving

Yes we did it!!  We made an American Thanksgiving feast for the very first time, and in India no less!  It was delicious and wonderful to share with Indians who had never had a true American Thanksgiving dinner.  The challenges were great, but the reward was even greater!  We definitely had to give ourselves a big pat on the back when all was said and done.  I am here to share with you today the challenges that presented themselves in preparation for this feast.  

Challenge #1 (see picture below)

Every item that I had to prepare had to be baked in this tiny little toaster oven.  I have been practicing to get the hang of baking in this little device with some small baked goods.  Some how we were able to manage all of the dishes with some careful thought and preparation.

 Challenge #2:  No sticks of butter, only one large block (see picture below)

After realizing that I was never going to find sticks of butter ever again (at least while I live in India), I had to find a way to measure my butter.  Eyeball measurements are ok if you're working with 1 TBSP or maybe even 2 TBSP of butter.  But not when you are working with several sticks of butter.  After doing some major online research, I discovered the method of water displacement.  I rigged up my own water displacement measuring device and whaaaalaaa...I can now measure out sticks of butter. (see picture below)

I can now measure butter...but boy is it time consuming.  Definitely miss individually wrapped sticks of butter.  

 Challenge #3:  Homemade, homemade, homemade.  

Did I mention that I had to make everything from scratch?  For you old-timers out there, now is the time to laugh at a youngster like myself.  I rarely make anything from scratch.  After several years of working full-time and being a mom and a wife too, I never had time to make anything from scratch.  If I could buy it in a box, I would.  So I had to say goodbye to Stovetop stuffing and ready-to-bake pie crusts.  Yes, I had to make it all from scratch.  This is where I had to call upon my mother dear, several aunts, and of course...the internet for some much needed recipes.  

The MENU:

1. Stuffing

The picture below is my bowl of breadcrumbs drying out for a day or 2.  

There are only one or 2 grocery stores that carry celery here, which are not within walking distance.  Thanks to our dear friends Jude and Roopa for finding the celery and dropping it off ahead of time for me to make stuffing.  The picture below is our final stuffing project.  The recipe came from my mom, so thanks mom for the help...it turned out great!!

2. Sweet Potatoes

Thanksgiving would not be complete without my Aunt Marlys' recipe for sweet potatoes.  The sweet potatoes here look so weird!  It was so hard to peel them!!  Poor Kris and I sat for over 30min simply trying to peel these suckers.  (We were really needing a nice cutco peeler--Arlys).  Then as we cut into them they were white, not orange at all.  I panicked a little, wondering if I had bought the right thing.  After boiling them and tasting them we discovered that they were indeed sweet.  The pictures below show these ugly little vegetables.  

3. Sweet Carrot Casserole

Thanks to my aunt Bonnie for this recipe.  I don't have a picture for it, but I was able to find all of the ingredients easily for this one.

4.  Corn

Also, no problems finding a can of corn.  This happened to be Molly's favorite side of the night.  Too bad it was the side dish that took the least effort.  At least she is easy to please!!

5.  Honey Glazed Chicken

No, we were not able to make turkey for this Thanksgiving dinner.  Did you see the size of my toaster oven?  No bird would have fit in there big enough to feed our group unfortunately.  So we went with an awesome honey-glazed chicken recipe from good-ol Rachel Ray.   Thanks Rachel!!

6.  Apple Pie

I desperately wanted to make a pumpkin pie.  I could even find a pumpkin down at the market, but I simply could not bring myself to make a homemade pumpkin pie.  Some things just aren't worth the effort!  So we went with a classic, all-american, apple pie.  Yes, I made a homemade pie crust for the first time.  The recipe was courtesy of Martha Stewart.  The pie turned out wonderfully! The picture below is me proudly showing off my pie!

I had to make the pie and the stuffing a day ahead of time simply so I wouldn't over-work the toaster oven.  We made everything else that day.  We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Monday, December 2, simply because that is when Kris has his day off at the clinic.  We started out our day with a Thanksgiving workout.  You know, so you can eat, and eat, and eat, for the rest of the day.  

Jude, Roopa and the boys getting ready for their first American Thanksgiving Feast!

There you have it folks!  This is how you prepare a Thanksgiving dinner in India.  I hope you enjoyed seeing the experience first-hand.  We also hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for!  Praise God!